A low-quality film mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad reportedly sparked some Libyan Islamist extremists to attack the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other diplomats. Earlier on Tuesday, a group of Egyptians scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag, angry over the same movie.So what is this film, and who made it?The English-language film, portions of which have been online since July, attracted attention in Egypt only over the past few days when someone posted a segment of the movie that had been dubbed into Arabic, according to the New York Times. Some Egyptian TV hosts began airing clips of the film over and over, portraying it as a Coptic Christian and American plot to denigrate the prophet. (Morris Sadek, a Coptic Christian from Egypt and critic of Islam who now lives in the United States, told AP he recently began promoting the two-hour film, which might also explain its rise out of obscurity.) The amateur-seeming "Innocence of Muslims" film shows the Prophet Muhammad as a homosexual who endorses extramarital sex and pedophilia, along with other slurs against Islam. (Many Muslims consider physical or visual representations of Muhammad to be blasphemous.)Though at first it was unclear who made the movie, the Wall Street Journal tracked down andinterviewed Israeli-American real estate developer Sam Bacile, who said he wrote, directed and produced the film. The 52-year-old Bacile told the Journal that he made the film to portray Islam as a hateful religion:

Quote:"Islam is a cancer," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie."
Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. Working with about 60 actors and 45 crew members, he said he made the two-hour movie in three months last year in California.

Bacile told the AP that he is now in hiding, and that his full movie has only been shown once, to a nearly empty theater in Hollywood. The AP said Bacile was "apologetic" about the ambassador's death, but blamed lax security and the extremists who perpetrated the attack. "I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," he said. "America should do something to change it."The inflammatory Florida pastor Terry Jones, best known for burning a copy of Islam's holy book in 2011, has also been publicizing the film. President Barack Obama condemned the attacks in a statement Wednesday, but also made an oblique reference to the "Innocence of Muslims" film. "While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," Obama said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also referenced the movie. "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet," Clinton said. "America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear. There is no justification for this. None."http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/inno...18931.html

The events portrayed in the OP article are horrific and offensive, and more than enough to stir our passions and emotions.

That said, I feel comfortable saying that everyone here is perfectly capable of separating out the heinous acts of a group of radical psychopaths without vilifying an entire religion and everyone in it. There are ample, deserving, and justifiable targets for our wrath and indignation while maintaining discretion.

It is possible to paint with too broad a brush. Think handsaw instead of bulldozer, 7.62 instead of atom bomb.

We ourselves are often the subject of being a part of a group that is often saddled with the misdeeds of criminals and psychopaths over nothing more than the fact that we own firearms, and we bristle with rage when it happens to us. Do we not employ great restraint in all our endeavors with firearms? Do we not advocate restraint for others as we train?

The secret to this board's success is going to lie within the ability of each of us to be able to freely express our reaction to world events without going too far. I think judgement and discretion and restraint are the keys here.

I have heard the complaints on other boards about moderation stifling free expression, violations of free speech, and "nazi moderators", while simultaneously hearing about hate speech, bigotry, and prejudice running amok.

As moderators, we are going to try to strike a balance. It is incumbent upon members to do the same. If this board is to succeed.

Enough said? We thank you for your support.

I am Curmudgeon and I approve of this message. .

If it matters... or not, the thoughts I expressed above are mine and mine alone. This is the first time I have ever moderated anything, and I acted
as an individual, doing the best I could under the time constraints of wanting to say something while needing to head off to work.

I would appreciate any feedback on any or all of my posts in this thread.

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“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”